Re-evaluation

There’s a saying here in Tennessee: “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” This is especially true in the spring. Take this week, for example. Sunday it was 85(!!!) and gorgeous. Monday we had severe storms with an overnight frost advisory. Today it’s in the 50s with clear blue skies. Looking ahead at the forecast for my half-marathon Saturday, I’m looking at a low of 64, a high of 80, and a 30% chance of thunderstorms. The LOW is warmer than it’s been for any of my long runs this whole training cycle.

That leaves me questioning my goals for this race. I know it’s only Tuesday and the forecast could change four thousand times between now and then, but I like to have a plan. And right now my plan is this: Go planless. I sort of had a strategy for how I wanted to run this race, but if it’s 80 degrees (I know it won’t reach 80 during the race, but if there’s a chance of storms, that tells me that it will more than likely be humid as all getout and that’s just as bad.) that strategy goes right out the window. It’s very possible I won’t know my new strategy until approximately 8:00 Saturday morning. (The race starts at 7:30.) I do know that I’m not going to kill myself trying to PR when I have another chance at another half the very next weekend. And who knows, there could be snow on the ground by then.

I didn't have a plan for my last half until I started running and it worked out! I think there's something to be said for running without any pressure. Hope the weather falls somewhere between storms and 80 F!